By Greg Friedman, K-8 Director

The best part of having an office across the hall from the Kindergarten room is getting a sense of what is happening in our Kindergarten class every day.  Last week, the Blue Penguins (our Kindergarten class) learned about their own senses with Mr. Matt:

• On Tuesday, they had a touch box and felt things like a Santa hat and a ball of tape.
• I could definitely hear them listening to and practicing making animal sounds for their hearing day on Wednesday.
• They baked chocolate chip cookies for their parents on Thursday.  I enjoyed the smell, but held off on indulging in tasting them; it is generally unwise to get between a child and a baked good they have made for their parents.

On Friday, I got to take them on a “backyard scavenger hunt” to explore their sense of sight.  Armed with clipboards and markers, we explored our recess field and the block around our school looking for pinecones and purple flowers, birds and butterflies, among many other things.  The Kindergarten students were curious, helpful to each other, and engaged.

Accompanying me on Friday’s scavenger hunt was Dylan K., one of our eighth grade students.  Unsurprisingly, she was terrific with our younger students.  Dylan is one of four Emerald middle school students who have agreed to partner with a lower school class for the last hour of the morning on most Fridays.  These interactions are a great chance for our older students to develop their leadership skills and to make connections with our younger students.

Friday was also the day that our students learned about their school “siblings” and “families.”  Every student has either one or two siblings in other grades that they will be connecting with during our Wednesday morning meetings and during our Friday morning recess.  Ask your children about their siblings and what their family color is.  If they don’t remember, don’t worry.  We’ll be partnering them up again this Wednesday to make family crests as color groups and the list of siblings is posted on MySMS.